Homemade Text Stamps

My husband made it home this afternoon and helped me make a stamp before he was down for his nap. Actually, all he does is put the "sandwhich" together, but he does a pretty good job of it.

I only had one stamp that was not useable and two of the stamps I will have to ink carefully, but the rest all looked great. So here is a card I made with one of the stamps. It's the tiny stamp that says: Faith Hope Love. You can see it still on the block down in the corner of the picture.

I also used some of my new cuttlebug embossing folders and some of my new SU ribbon. The flower is from the Sale-a-bration stamp set Friendship Blooms.

Another Stamp From My Stampcritter

My husband helped me yesterday make this stamp. He put my "sandwhich" together so I was able to make two fairly large stamps with one pouch. Usually if I'm doing it , I just do one image and center it in the pouch which causes a lot of waste. But he was able to get me two very good images.

This image came from a coloring book I had. You can see the actual stamp also in the picture. I attached it to the acrylic block with temporary tape.

I colored the images in with Stampin Up's Pure color pencils and metallic pencils using the gamasol technique. I've just recently tried this technique so I'm not very good at it yet.

The other stamp we made was a repeat of one I had already made. It was the one of the puppet, I made one for a friend of mine.

Testing of New Pouches

I spent most of the day yesterday testing some polymer pouches that I received from a manufacturer.

The first pouch I tested was a true clear pouch. These pouches are much thicker than the Stampcritter pouches. This is good because one of the biggest problems I have with the Stampcritter pouches is getting the liquid dispersed evenly in the pouch. If you don't, you will have an image with a good impression on one side and a faint impression on the other. For instance the Bambi stamp I made had a very good impression except for around his tail. I had to ink that part very carefully.

I gave four tries on the clear pouch but didn't achieve a good impression. I need to test the different times some more. Some good things about this pouch (if I can get the exposure times figured out) is that they are a quite a bit cheaper than others out there if you buy in quantities of 20 or more. Also, they truely stick to the acrylic blocks without adding any adhesive. These pouches are also available in 4 sizes. The two largest sizes are too big to fit on the stampcritter exposure plates, but the two smaller pouches would be great. They are 1/8 sheet (2 15/16 x 4 1/8) and 1/4 sheet (4 1/8 x 5 7/8). I used the same process as I did with the Stampcritter pouches but I adjusted the times.

I'm hoping to get some more of these pouches and do some more testing. If I figure out the testing times, then I will post more info on the manufacturer. I don't want anyone buying them and getting upset with me if they don't work. So I would rather wait until I have had good results with these pouches.

I also tried some "red" pouches from this same company. I made 2 attempts and I did get a good impression on part of the stamp. I had the same problem with these pouches as I did with the Stampcritter pouches, getting the liquid dispersed evenly. I did finally receive the spacers that Stampcritter forgot to send me, but they don't help at all because they are too thick for the red pouches and for their own pouches.

The red pouches are also cheaper than anything else I have seen and I used the exact same process and times as I do with the pouches from Stampcritter. They also do not stick to the acrylic blocks with out an adhesive of some sort.

My husband came home after I had already used up all the red and clear pouches. So he helped me to do a stamp with the Stampcritter pouches. He put my "sandwhich" together for me and did a great job. I got two pretty good sized stamps out of the pouch with very little waste. I will take some pictures of my stamps and cards I made with it and post it later when my grandson leaves. For now I have to go and watch Barney.

I will keep you updated when I do more testing on the pouches.

February Stamp Club Projects

Here are the cards we are making tonight at our monthly Stamp Club meeting. I just finished typing up the instructions. If anyone is interested in receiving the instructions, they are in a word document with pictures of the cards included, just send me an email.


I normally do a 3-D item, but I simply forgot. So next month I will make up for that. Now I need to go get my house cleaned up, at least the downstairs.

New Cards From Some Old Paper

Not only do I have a problem throwing anything away. I also like to hoard things. I'm trying to get over some of these bad habits. These cards are made with the new Sale-a-brations set So Many Scallops but I used some really old paper. This paper was the first package of paper I ever bought from Stampin Up and sadly, I still have most of it.

So I will try to do a better job of using my paper, especially now since they are bringing out new designer papers in every catalog and mini.

Another Reject Card

I posted some cards earlier that I had made with items from my "reject box". This is a card that I made for Jane, the lady who is teaching the signing class my daughter is in.

I already had the background stamped, I just wasn't sure what to do with it. This is from a Sale-a-bration set from a couple of years ago so that tells you how long it has been in my reject box.

I really like the new taffeta ribbon Stampin Up carries, I want to get all of the colors.

Year After Year IV

I had started a series of cards all using the Year After Year Stamp Set to show how versatile the set was. I forgot to finish what I had started so here is card #4 using the gift stamp. This stamp is not only good for birthdays, but also makes great Christmas Cards.

RECIPE:

Almost Amethyst paper & designer paper
Elegant Eggplant paper and ink
Black ink and paper
Rhinestones from the Dollar Tree
Ticket punch
White ribbon

Sale-a-Bration Card

Here is one of the cards I made with my new Sale-a-Bration sets. I didn't particularly like this set when I first saw it, but it has grown on me.

RECIPE:

Birthday Whimsey stamp set

Soft Sky paper and ink

Whisper White paper

Pretty in Pink ink

Almost Amethyst ink

Soft Sky ribbon

Cards Made From the Reject Box

Sometimes I will start a card, and it doesn't quite go the way I plan. And since I can't stand to throw anything away, I will toss it in my "reject box". Sometimes this is an embellishment, a focal point, or even the cardbase.

The other night my internet was down, and since I couldn't browse around SCS, I decided to use up some of the items in my "reject box". And here they are..........

This card was pretty well done, except I hated the center piece. I had originally used the paisley stamp from the Polka Dots & Paisley stamp set, but it just wasn't working for me. So I tore if off and used one of the new stamps from Sale-a-Bration. I added a little paper piercing in the corner and faux stitching using the stamp from All In a Row. I think it's ready to send now.

For the next card I pulled the flower image out of my box. This flower was colored using the Stampin Up Metallic Pencils and was my first try at the Gamasol Magic technique. It took me a while to decide what colors to use with this, but I really like the Chocolate Chip, So Saffron and Bravo Burgundy.

This next card was one of my first attempts at using the new Groovy Guava In-color. I had the cardbased all stamped, but then I didn't know what to do with it so into the reject box it went. I found this layout on one of the blogs I visit (can't remember which one) and thought this would work. I still think it needs something. I wish I had my new Chocolate Chip Twill Ribbon when I was working on this. I think it would have stood out better than the Groovy Guava Ribbon. Plus I shouldn't have left so much space between the flower and ribbon, but at least after several months it is finally done.

This card was made with a stamp I bought in a LSS in Branson Mo. It was a really cool store. Most LLS seem to be scrapbooking oriented with some stamping stuff thrown in, this one was just the opposite. And they had a ton of display boards. I took a lot of pictures. Too bad we lost my husbands new digital camera before we got home and could get them downloaded. They had a lot of these stamps that leave a space for you to fill in, usually with flowers or leaves. I colored this in with Twinkling H2O's, so it is very sparkly in real life. I also went over the flowers with my Stardust Pen that I purchased at the same store.

For this last card, I had used the Gamasol technique and Stampin Up colored pencils to color in the rose. I saw a card on SCS that was very similar to this layout and thought it would be perfect for my lonely flower. So one more scrap found its way out of my reject box.

Hope you have enjoyed my "rejects".

Terri's Workshop

Here is a card that we did as a make-n-take for Terri's workshop. We also used the scallop punch and covered the peppermint patties candy. I forgot to take any pictures of those.

RECIPE:

Certainly Celery cardstock and ink
Regal Rose cardstock and ink
Whisper White cardstock
Lovely Lilac cardstock and ink
Flowers for You DP
Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon
Little Flowers Stamp Set
So Many Scallops Stamp Set
1/2" Circle Punch
Scallop Punch

Homemade Disney Stamp

This is a stamp that I made from a "coloring page" I found on the internet. This wasn't one of my successes. I didn't get a good impression on part of the stamp, so I had to be careful inking up the stamp. You can see where it is not real defined by Bambi's tail.

I finally got my "spacers" today, so I hope to start making stamps again soon.